Love Unconditional
by iSqueakers
Summary: As the Koopalings grow up and move out, Clawdia remembers the childhoods of each one.
1. Ludwig

On a sunny spring day, Clawdia rocks on her rocking chair, hemming up an old piranha plant shirt Larry always wore years ago. As she looks ahead towards Larry's doomship parked in front of the castle, she sighs; she isn't ready to let go of him, just like she did with her six older children.

Truly, her life was devoted to her eight children. Sure, the start to her long, thirty-year marriage to King Bowser Koopa was the premiere to multiple highlights of her life, but none of the adventures the two had matched up to the joyful, yet perilous journey of parenthood.

With that thought, she couldn't help but think about Ludwig and how he blessed her life every day for the past twenty-seven years of his life. He was, and still is, incredibly smart for his age, and he was a fast, avid learner.

* * *

"Hey Mom!" a young Ludwig shouted, seeming to struggle with carrying a textbook of some kind, "Look at this cool book I'm reading!"

Clawdia smiled, although putting a finger to her lips as a swaddled newborn koopaling lies still in her arms, "Shh, hon, Roy's trying to sleep. Come here closer and tell me about it but keep your voice down."

"Yeah, sure," Ludwig acknowledged in a near-whisper, "It's this book I found in your room! It's a huge book with a picture of a potion on it! I've been reading it all day! But did you know that hydrogen and helium make up approximately 99 percent of all existing atoms?"

Clawdia stared at her son in shock. Not only did he find her college chemistry textbook, but he was able to understand it at a young age. She knew he was brilliant for a near three-year-old, but she'd never thought he'll be able to read material meant for those two decades older than him.

"Wow, really?" Clawdia voiced in silent surprise, but more-so of his comprehension skills than with the atom fact, "That's amazing, dear! You understood all that text?"

"Yeah Mom! I'm glad you thought so too! This universe is so big and amazing! And how it's made of all these small things, as well as energy! In fact, when I grow up, I want to start observing and experimenting all of the wonders and forces of the universe! Oh, and no I couldn't understand all of it, but I want to one day!"

Looking at Ludwig, she can see the eager smile he radiates. She herself cannot resist his contagious, determined expression.

"Well, hon, if you want to do anything, it's never too early to start. Well, except for surgery; please don't do that yet," she advised, laughing a bit at the joke she made.

* * *

Clawdia couldn't help but smile at the memory. Ever since that day, Ludwig's been inventing with almost every ounce of free time he had. She remembers that the week after, Ludwig invented a light-up necklace for her to use as a flashlight, although she never turned it on in fear of it blowing up, even with the additional help from Kamek and other sources for the first few years.

Around the time he turned fifteen, everyone in the castle was confident in his inventing abilities. Clawdia herself didn't want him to get involved with Mario, but after some coaxing from Bowser, she let him help the other Dark Land engineers and inventors with building Bowser's notorious airships.

'Something I'm definitely proud of, I'm glad I let him,' Clawdia snapped out of her memories and stares at Larry's ship. That's one less airship she'll see everyday; one less memory of her brilliant son Ludwig.

Of course, inventing wasn't the only thing Ludwig developed as a talent. Especially when he got older, he grew a love for composing music. As expected, his music turned out terrible at the start of his composing career, and not even Bowser supported him in it. Clawdia, however, kept encouraging Ludwig to keep continuing, despite her not liking his earlier music either.

"I would always tell him 'It's not too early to become a great musician, nor is it too late to improve. Just put your heart to it and you'll improve'," she voiced out to no one in particular as she flips over Larry's shirt, "And oh my, did he need improvement!"

Ever since Ludwig noticed the support, he kept with the music, gradually improving throughout the years. Now it's to the point where beautiful, emotion-filled melodies infect his composures rather than off-key, horrid sounds, much to the pleasure of everyone else in the castle.

However, time always drags on in the end. Not long after composing the final part of his Koopa Symphony, Ludwig announced some news to Clawdia that she'll never forget.

* * *

"Hello, mother. Do you have a minute? I want to tell you something."

Clawdia had a scared look on her face. She has an idea of what this would possibly be.

"Well," Ludwig continued, "Originally, I was angry with Junior obtaining the Crown Prince title instead of me, but over the years I've been thinking, and... I decided that position wasn't right for me in the end. I want to further my goals, so I've decided to work with E. Gadd on developing inventions."

"So... You're moving out?" although expecting that, Clawdia still sits, shocked.

"Affirmative. I'm twenty-one now; as much as I'd like to stay here, I want to make a mark on the world. That requires me to move out, and I need to depart in a few minutes."

"I knew that was coming," Clawdia sighs; she can feel the tears coming, but she needed to be strong, "I probably never had the chance to parent you the best that I could-"

"False, mother," he interrupted, "You've done so much for me, and I cannot thank you enough for it all. I'm eternally lucky to have you as my mother. Anyway, I should be off."

Both Ludwig and Clawdia sit up from their chairs, and give each other a fond embrace. They then let go as Ludwig walks towards his doomship. However, before getting onto the ship, he turns towards his mother.

"Oh yeah. Remember what you would say to me back then? The 'It's never too early to...' stuff?" Ludwig questioned, "Well, keep this in mind. If you honestly feel you 'need' to parent me more, just know it's the opposite for you: it's never too late. I won't be living here anymore, but you will always be my mother. Just know it'll never be too late to give me motherly advice."

With the tears streaming down her face, Clawdia smiles and gives him a little nod. Ludwig waves at her before turning around and boarding his doomship.

* * *

 _'_ _Motherhood isn't what it panned out to be,'_ Clawdia thought, her eyes watering as she thinks about the memory of Ludwig's departure over six years ago. She always thought the sole source of learning comes from the parent to the child, rather than vice versa.

However, despite the struggles Ludwig had when learning something, he never gave up. He taught her a valuable lesson of perseverance; that she must do as every other child leaves the Keep one-by-one.

That fact in itself may be the one thing keeping her optimistic all this time, as well as the faith and love she has for each of them.

* * *

 **A/N: Well hey, first and probably last A/N for this story. But anyway, this is the brainchild of multiple "What-If's" I think about as I write Royal Flush and other stories in the past. I'll be working on this in conjunction with Royal Flush for sure, so ideas may correlate. I've always wanted to do a story in this format, but they always seem to start off awkward, so apologies if it seems that way.**

 **Incase you couldn't figure out, I plan to do a chapter on each Koopaling.**

 **Anyway, please feel free to review. :)**


	2. Lemmy

**A/N: Long time no see! I've gotten better reception from this story than I'd initially thought, and I also have a way of how I want to execute all of this, so with both in mind, I bring to you all this chapter. Not sure when the next one is, but hopefully not 4 months later. Anyway, uhh, both late happy Canada Day and late happy 4th of July to my fellow Canadians and Americans, it feels weird to not celebrate either.**

 **Okay, enough of that, time to move on! Hope this one is on par with the first chapter!**

* * *

Clawdia breathes out a sigh as she does the finishing touches of Larry's shirt. Every time she sees the wacky yellow shirt with a random green piranha plant smacked onto it, she couldn't help but to think of her second oldest son. Just like the shirt, Lemmy always expressed quirky behaviors; less in the demented way like his brother Iggy, but more along the path of an innocent child. And, also like the shirt, Lemmy stood out as pigment of green in an otherwise-yellow world.

He didn't have the same love for knowledge at a young age as Ludwig. In fact, Lemmy was behind in school for much of his life until his teenaged years.

"It got to the point where I needed to take antacids and schedule a yoga session BEFORE his report card came from his school," Clawdia giggled to herself.

However, despite his struggles, he always expressed an optimistic, care-free, cheerful attitude from a young age, and that's one trait she would never change even if she had the power to.

* * *

"Mom! Come look at this!"

Hearing Ludwig's shouts, Clawdia runs until she sees Ludwig holding onto Lemmy's shoulders, both of them standing.

"I'm letting go, Lem. Do it again!"

Ludwig lets go of Lemmy. Clawdia couldn't help but smile when Lemmy takes a few steps. This has been the first time she's ever witnessed Lemmy walking. Since he was a bit behind most kids around his age, Clawdia couldn't help but to express a relieved look.

However, a horrified expression replaces the short-lived relief when Lemmy collapses on the floor, face-first. When Ludwig learned walking, every time he fell, he always ended up crying, even if he just fell on his side or his back.

Clawdia stands poised, ready to snatch Lemmy up and comfort him if needed, expecting him to cry. Instead, Lemmy sits back up, rubs his face and starts laughing. Both Clawdia and Ludwig lose their worried faces and join in on the laughter.

As the laughter settles down, Lemmy uses a nearby couch to hoist himself back up, walks another few steps and falls down, this time on his side. Clawdia and Ludwig laugh again, while Lemmy flashes them a contagious smile.

* * *

Clawdia once again giggles at the memory. Ever since then, he took most embarrassing moments in his life and either made jokes about them with that smile, or he laughed about it.

He was always the goofy one, and even now at almost twenty-six, he still expresses his lovable traits. However, being the second oldest, he can offer great advice to his younger siblings whenever Ludwig wasn't present, and, in specific areas such as optimism, he can even offer better advice.

From the advice-giving to his overall easygoing, warm personality, Clawdia couldn't help but be surprised when, as a teenager, he ditched his dream of joining a circus and instead pursue another dream of studying the multiple glaciers of Ice Land.

"That one knocked me back quite a bit. I mean, Lemmy in science?!" Clawdia giggled, "But I still believed he could do it, especially since he loved that Land."

The kid was in need of much advice and happiness when he needed to work hard just to catch up in school, but just like his first few years of life, he never gave up and he saw the end far sooner than the rest of the family did.

Still, despite his sudden change in plans, he still loves coming up with tricks. Although he found riding on a ball and other acrobatic performances years ago in private, Clawdia still recalls the first time he performed them in front of a large audience during Wendy's third birthday party.

* * *

"Happy birthday, Wendy!" Bowser, Clawdia, the four eldest koopalings and the rest of the guests shouted. An innocent smile forms across Wendy's face as she blows out the candles on her strawberry-flavored cake.

"Birthday girl gets the first piece!" Clawdia cooed, cutting a remarkable slab of cake and plopping it on Wendy's plate, "Everyone else, gather around!"

"Thanks Mommy!" Wendy replied in a soft voice before asking, "Where's the clown? I wanna see a performance!"

Clawdia and Bowser exchange stunned and confused looks. They ordered a clown, but neither of them could spot a dressed-up clown or jester in the audience. Clawdia sighs before whispering to Bowser.

"I don't see any clowns!" Clawdia hissed, "We can't just ruin Wendy's party! What should we do?"

"Hire another one or something!" Bowser groaned, "I knew this was a bad idea."

However, one koopaling manages to hear the conversation between his parents. He steps up to both of them and pushes up his glasses before offering what he thinks will be the best solution.

"Mom, Dad! Lemmy can do great tricks on that ball of his!" Iggy informed before smiling an evil, I-just-put-you-in-the-hot-seat grin at Lemmy. Bowser and Clawdia look over at Lemmy, who then gives them a confused smile.

"Uhh, yeah, sure. I'll do it."

Despite Clawdia's reluctance over him only being six and Bowser's acceptance, Lemmy goes up to the front of the room and shouts out to the crowd.

"Hey everyone! I'm, uhh, here to perform for my sister!" Lemmy informed with his green-starred yellow ball tucked beneath his arm. He tries his beat to sound confident, but he had no doubt a sense of insecurity leaked through his words.

The crowd claps and cheers as Lemmy places the ball on the floor. He then hops onto the ball, receiving multiple _Ooohs_ and claps from the audience. Afterwards, he moves around on the ball before doing a flip and landing back on the ball with a handstand.

The crowd applauds, while both Clawdia and Bowser smile as they clap. As everyone quiets down, Wendy dashes up to Lemmy and hugs him.

"Thanks Brother Lemmy!"

"Well, glad everyone liked it, even you," Lemmy replied as he hugged her back. He then picked up his ball and gives it to Clawdia, "And here's a gift to the parents of the birthday girl! I already got Wendy another ball," he added with a whisper.

"Aww! Thank you, Lemmy! That was so sweet," Clawdia commented before placing the ball down and announcing, "Okay! Time for Wendy's presents!"

* * *

Clawdia looks down at the green-starred yellow ball in the chest, the same ball he'd given her that day. Despite it being twenty years old and a tad flat compared to its heyday, the remarkable condition of the ball warranted no major scratches nor other malformations. Oh how remarkable his skills came ever since that day. Ever since that party, he strived to do more complicated tricks, and even dragged Larry, Wendy and Iggy into certain acts.

"I never figured out how those kids do it, but I'm glad," Clawdia pondered, still staring at the ball, "They sure saved us a ton of money and extra security measure. Why need entertainment when there's that goofball and his gang!"

But alas, Lemmy was a goofball that she loved and grew accustomed too. With his personality, she honestly thought he'd never move out, but that ultimate surprise came out just a bit over five years ago.

* * *

"Hey Mom!" Lemmy called out to Clawdia, who was sitting on the porch washing the ball Lemmy gave her during Wendy's third birthday party. As he approaches his mother, Lemmy drops the two duffle bags he carried.

Clawdia looks up and gives Lemmy a sad smile. Unlike Ludwig, Lemmy told Clawdia about a month ahead that he'd be moving out in order to go to school for glaciology, so she can tell she's about to spend the last few minutes with him before he starts his own adventures.

"Hey hon, you ready for all this?"

"I think so," Lemmy nodded before sighting her hands, "Oh wow! You still kept that ball! I always wondered what you done with it!"

"Of course I kept it, Lemmy. That was the first time I saw you do any tricks on a ball rather than just walk! Plus it was a gift to me!"

Lemmy grins before he also looks down at the chest labelled 'MOVE-OUTS', "Oh wow, you kept Ludwig's first invention too! I always thought that thing exploded."

"Heck, it just might if I turn that on! No offense to Lud or anything, but I'd like to keep this memory of him rather than to have it blown up."

"Fair enough. Anyway, doomship's ready, I just need to load these bags and I'm ready."

Lemmy backs away from the chest and picks the bags back up while Clawdia deposits the ball into the chest with Ludwig's necklace and stands up.

"Anyway, I should get going."

"I'll miss you, Lemmy. It feels as if you taught me more than I taught you. I haven't known someone who was so optimistic and persevering like you were."

"That's not true, Mom!" Lemmy voiced in opposition, "You taught me so many important things, such as self-acceptance."

On a normal day, feelings expressed from Roy and Morton would shock Clawdia, not something from Lemmy. Self-acceptance? From Lemmy?

"How did I teach you self-acceptance? You were always happy with who you were!"

"I sort of was, but at the end of the day, you know, I questioned myself. Why couldn't I be taken more seriously, or why couldn't I be smarter than I am, why couldn't I be more useful, just stuff like that. However, you taught me that there are times in life when people don't want seriousness or perfection. They want wit, they want laughter. They just want to live care-free at times. And honestly, if you didn't teach that, I'd probably change into... Err, another Ludwig!" Lemmy explained, adding the last part with his signature smile.

While Clawdia grinned at the comment about Ludwig, Clawdia still was dumbfounded from the comment. Really? She was glad she had a much larger impact on his life than she'd ever thought, but sheesh! She didn't know all that!

"Wow, I never knew that, Lemmy. You should've told me."

"It didn't weigh me down too much like other things did, so I didn't want to worry anyone. Just, y'know, all of the confusion that comes with growing up."

"Well, fair enough, but you can always talk to me if something bothers you."

"Of course! There's still unfinished homework in my bag," Lemmy pointed out with a wink.

"Oh, knock it off, silly! Not in that way!" Clawdia playfully slapped Lemmy on the back of the head, "Get in your ship! Your ride's waiting!"

"Well yeah, guess I'll be off now."

"Aww, come here!"

Clawdia approaches Lemmy and gives him a tight hug. Lemmy drops the bags and returns the hug.

"Ooh man I love you! You'll do good Lemmy," Clawdia smiled, "And call me every now and then!"

"Yes, yes I will," Lemmy sighed, "Love you too. Goodbye Mom."

Lemmy picks up the bags once again and enters the doomship. Not long after, the doomship takes off. She wasn't sure if Lemmy could see, but she waved goodbye anyway as the ship speeds off.

* * *

Clawdia tears up at the memory. She learned many things from Lemmy, specifically to slow down and to just enjoy life. Originally, she brushed that aside, but then, well, more kids came along, and by the third and fourth kid, she did need that example.

He may have been silly, but he did offer important life lessons, albeit unknowingly, just like the rest of her kids. And that is the main reason she cherished having those bratty, yet lovable kids of hers.


End file.
